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wow

intj
/waʊ/

Etymology

Attested since the 16th century; borrowed from Scots wow; ultimately a natural exclamation.

  1. borrowed from wow

Definitions

  1. An indication of excitement, surprise, astonishment, or pleasure.

    • Wow, I sure was surprised!
    • Out on thir wanderand spiritis, wow! thow cryis.

  2. An expression of amazement, awe, or admiration.

    • Wow! How do they do that?

  3. Used sarcastically to express disapproval of something.

    • Wow… good job using all of our supplies on the first day.
  4. ›+ 9 more definitions

    1. To amaze or awe.

      • He really wowed the audience.
      • We have the worst of both worlds: the royal family gives us nothing, and we in turn legitimise it, give it meaning and audience and pay, through subsidies and tax exemptions, for its ability to wow us.

    2. Anything exceptionally surprising, unbelievable, outstanding, etc.

      • ‘And say, Jimmy, wait till you see me in my new outfit...It’s a wow, kid.’
      • ‘Jesus suffering fuck,’ said Adrian. ‘It’s not half a thought.’ ‘Face it, it’s a wow.’

    3. An utterance of "wow".

      • On this trip, we talked with fellow cruisers about their travels and boats, and many were curious about the Beneteau Swift Trawler. Gow graciously gave tours, during which we heard many wows, oohs and aahs.
      • One woman took a seat nearer the front for a closer look at my maps. Several people exhaled loudly. I heard a wow now and then.

    4. A relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) which can affect both gramophone…

      A relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) which can affect both gramophone records and tape recorders.

      • Sound films have to be loaded so that the sound is 5 seconds before the sound drum so a wow does not result when the film is punched up on the air.

    5. Initialism of World of Warcraft.

    6. Initialism of War on Women.

    7. Initialism of Windows on Windows.

    8. Abbreviation of weight on wheels

    9. Alternative letter-case form of WoW (“World of Warcraft”).

      • Though WOW has yet to flinch from the upcoming third-generation MMOs, Crusade – which will be done when it’s done – should further swell its chest.

The neighborhood

Derived

big wow, wowee, wow factor, wowsers, wow word, wowzah, wowzer, wowser, wowless

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for wow. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA